Sunday, October 31, 2010

We had a great Halloween. Jada finally got the whole deal with trick or treating. it took a few houses but very quickly she learned that if she showed her bucket people would give her treats. A very nice older lady gave her 4 chocolate bars!! She refused to wear her hat and as you can see she fell on her knees. She was a trooper and trucked on. We did about 6 houses and headed home.Now time for bed:)HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Jada as Uniqua from the popular children's show The BackyardigansPlease note those are not dirty socks. She has her Robeez on and the bottoms are scuffed up.Our Class InkOur Class PictureSome of the grubWhat a great party. Honestly, I think it's the best one we have had! can't wait til next year!!!!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Monster Slime/Touch and feel without the mess!. I got this idea from a handout that i got from a children's activity workshop.All you need is a clear plastic bag, hair Gel in your favorite color, and some google eyes. The instructions didn't say to use eyes but I thought they would go with this activity really well for Halloween.Jada Roo was away yesterday visiting her Nannie so I didn't get any pictures of her doing this Dirt and worm activity. The older children had a lot of fun making it though. They especially liked licking the spoons!And a special Treat for the Kaboose Readers. I wish I had a plaine T-shirt to try this out!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Let me just say that these costumes are not very flattering lol Oh and yes I made our costumes this year:)

Watch the skeleton grow

Making Mr.Pumpkin Heads

I did not come up with this Idea. Some guy who sells the plastic pieces to Dollarama did lol.I make some small holes ahead of time in the gourd so Jada could put her pieces in without too much trouble.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Sorry to leave you hanging on Friday. Did you guess what I was making? Here it is:A Halloween Advent CalendarYou can see that I had extra unused muffin space that needed to be covered. Oh by the way #8 is my favorite!

A close up

Here you can see how I joined the two muffin tins together.Please note that it was a super windy day that this picture was taken and the pieces kept falling off! Oh and it was threatening to rain on me lolThe embellishments are 3-D. Love them!

I wanted to make a Halloween one after buying THIS Christmas one last year on Etsy. Thanks Kristy I love it!!! Oh and she now takes custom orders if you want a Halloween one too! I set out to find a way of doing one for Halloween. I googled til my hands hurt and found This really cute one. I also found This one on Flicker.I decided right away that I wanted all 31 days for my advent calendar but didn't want it to look broken up by using 2 mini muffin tins. So I decided to ask hubby to drill some holes in both tins so I could attach them with some festive Halloween ribbon. Added a magnetic poster to the top to cover the unused muffin holes. That pumpkin in the middle is actually a Halloween card my dad sent Jada.Here is an excellent tutorial on how to make your own. There are so many great tutorials and images out there for inspiration. You could also make Birthday countdowns, Easter, wedding, graduation etc.This craft was a lot of fun to make I really enjoyed it. It was a bit expensive to make $30 for the materials (paper goods) and The tins were on sale at our local grocery store for $7.50 each. The muffin tins are a good investment because Jada will only eat mini muffins and I make at least 3 batches a week! a win, win situation in my opinion. Now that Jada is getting older I would like to do things that will be our family tradition just like every year we go apple picking, pumpkin picking etc. I want Halloween and Christmas to be remembered as a really fun time spent with mommy and daddy doing all kinds of fun stuff found in our advent calendar. Some ideas I had for each day of the advent are to place small pieces of paper in each telling you what craft, event or treat you can have each day.

Example:

Day 1 Read a Halloween book with mommy and daddy while snuggled up in front of the fireplaceDay 2: Listen to our creepy Halloween music CDDay 3 :Decorate the house for HalloweenDay 4: Make ghosts from our feet printsDay 5: Go pumpkin pickingDay 6: Try on our costumes to make sure we have all the parts needed for the 31stDay 7: Make a Halloween themed eye spy bottleDay 8: Make some Halloween cards for the grandparents and mail themDay 9: Bake some pumpkin cookiesDay 10: Make a Halloween t-shirtDay 11: Look under your pillow for a surprise (dollar store Halloween toy)Day 12: Go for a walk with mommy and daddy and collect some leavesDay 13: Make a Halloween frozen excavationDay 14: Make a spider with our hand printsDay 15: Go to the library and find some more Halloween booksDay 16: Make toilet paper mummiesDay 17: Play with our Halloween Play Dough and cookie cuttersDay 18: Halloween water playDay 19: Do some Halloween rhymesDay 20: Color a Monster PictureDay 21: Halloween Sticker CollageDay 22: Halloween colors paintingDay 23: Play in our Halloween texture binDay 24: Watch a Halloween Movie (kid friendly)Day 25: Halloween Felt StoriesDay 26: bake Halloween CookiesDay 27: Color a Pumpkin PictureDay 28: Make funny Mr. Pumpkin HeadsDay 29: Carve our PumpkinDay 30: Bake Pumpkin seedsDay 31: Go Trick Or Treating!!!!I have also thought of putting little Halloween erasers, rings, smarties or m&m's in each day as well.If anyone has any ideas for some things to add to my list please, please share them with me.I plan to start doing this advent calendar next year as Halloween is almost here. If you have made one for Halloween or Christmas I would love it if you would send me the link:)

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Here is last years costumes:I made Hubby's costume and bought mine and Jada's off of ebay. The angle this pic was taken makes us all look horrible but it's the only one I have.

My little crayon. I will post a picture of the crayon family once Jada decides to cooperate:) I made the costmes this year.Mommy trying to be creativeJada at one month oldCan't wait to get our family pic done:)Stay tuned.....

Friday, October 22, 2010

A SnEaK PeAk of a mommy made craft. I just have the finishing touches to finish up that involve a drill. Do I have you confused yet? I will update on Monday with all the details and a picture of it completed.HaVe A GrEaT WeEkEnD!!!!!!!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Jeez what a busy morning. I ran around trying to get photos of all the busy activity.

Flat Glass Marble Spooning

Jada loved this activity Until she got tired that is lol. She looks comfy!And this was all Jada's doing. She went to the art shelf and got herself a pair of training scissors and paper. I think all that tong practice is paying off!Halloween Colored Noodle LacingThis is an activity that was always brought out every Halloween back in my day care teaching days. I'm still a day care teacher but I think more of myself as a tot school because we are such a small group.

Jada thought this activity was fantastic. I love lacing activities because the level of concentration is so intense. You can hear a pin drop when Jada is working on her lacing. She kept saying "Look Mommy!"I just want to mention that my tree button giveaway is still open. Please go sign up for a chance to win.Also check out my activity tray slide show. You may find a little something that reminds you of winter. I will do a post about that soon.